The Minor Scales
The minor scales are also very common within western music, there are 3 different versions of the minor scale that are often used. Like the major scale, each of the 3 minor scales has 8 notes.
There are two ways of working out the notes of the minor scales. We'll talk about how to do it using relative majors first, and then we'll look at some patterns you can use that will help.
The Natural Minor Scale
You can play a natural minor scale starting on each of the 12 notes (keys). The most important thing to know about the 12 natural minor scales is that each one is directly related to one of the major scales.
You find the natural minor scale related to each major scale by counting down a minor 3rd (3 semitones) from the 1st note of the major scale.
So, C major would be related to A natural minor.
A natural minor will use the same notes as C major, and the same key signature.
Here is a table of all the related major and minor keys:
The Harmonic Minor Scale
The harmonic minor scale is based on the natural minor scale, but it sharpens the 7th note.
The key signature doesn’t change. A harmonic minor also uses the key signature of C major, with no sharps or flats. The G sharps are marked using accidentals. This is a useful way of spotting if a piece is in C major or A harmonic minor!
The Melodic Minor Scale
The melodic minor scale is also based on the natural minor scale. It sharpens the 6th and 7th notes on the way up (ascending), but not on the way down (descending).
Note Names and Intervals
The names of the notes of the minor scales don’t change across the 3 different minor scales, but the intervals made with the root note do.
The Chords in the Minor Keys
Working out the chords that will sound right with each of the three minor scales leads to some really interesting sounding chord shapes!
When you create a tune using one of the minor scales, make sure that you choose the set of chords that matches the scale notes.
Note: Chords 1, 4 and 5 are the most important chords of each minor scale, even though they are different for each one.
The Minor Arpeggio
The minor scales follow the same arpeggio pattern as the major scale, using the 1st 3rd 5th and 8th notes of the scale.
Because it’s only the 6th and 7th notes that are altered in the different versions of the minor scale, the arpeggio is unaffected and played the same for all 3 minor scales.
For A minor, the arpeggio notes are: A C E A
This is how it looks written in musical notation:
A C E A E C A
The Circle of Fifths
The circle of fifths is a way of visualising how all 12 keys are related to each other and figuring out the order in which sharps and flats are added in the major keys.
C is the starting point - this key has no sharps of flats.
If I count up a perfect 5th I get to G.
G is next point along the circle: this major key has 1 sharp, F#
If I count up another perfect 5th I get to D
D is the next point along the circle: this major key has 2 sharps: F# and C#
Counting down in perfect 5ths gives us the order of the flat keys
Counting down a perfect 5th from C we get to F
F is next point along the circle in this direction: F major has 1 flat, Bb
Counting down a perfect 5th from Bb we get to Eb
Bb is the next point along the circle: Eb major has 2 flats, Bb and Eb
Note: counting up or down in perfect 5ths leads to the same point F#/Gb, and connects the circle of fifths together. This key is usually referred to as Gb Major.
Here is the full circle of fifths diagram, showing each pair of major and minor keys and the sharps and flats they share.
Chord charts for each pair of major and minor keys are available to download. Each chart contains the notes and chords of each major scale, along with the three minor scales.